What a wonderful photo report. Some beautiful airports there.
It clearly shows how nice VFR flying can be... Very inspiring :-)
Very nice trip report. You seem to have visited many airfiels in a short time!
Here is my trip report.
I am not aware of any airfield in Belgium or the Grand Duchy with a hotel on the premises. Have some memory of EBSH Saint hubert, though, in this respect.
There is a hotel open at Saint Hubert. Stayed in it last month.
I do, Jason, and there have even been occasions when I actually switched it on 
For example, Brussels Info seems to utterly disregard me when the transponder is not operative. There are pros and cons to that...
Nice write up.
Jan, do you carry a transponder on your aircraft?
Thanks for the report, it largely agrees with my experience. Except for Belga Radar: I have never been sure why one would ever need or want to call them, and have never done so as yet - but will definitely give them a try at the next occasion.
As I may have stated before, I am under the impression that Brussels Info is often operated by newcomers to the job - some of them are very good.
As for the local radio operators speaking English: in Southern Belgium I think it is a matter of luck, it just depends on the actual person operating the radio. At non-controlled fields, that is.
Brussels Information is of very little use; more of a "basic service" only. During the week (when many military areas can be active) it is much better to call Belga Radar, which serve civil GA as well.
Yes, that is a peculiarity in Belgium. They don't seem to coordinate and not even like each other. I once switched from Brussels Information to Belga Radar expecting to continue as Brussels told me and I got a response from Belga Radar like "Brussels Information have no clue, don't bother calling them".
Another funny thing was a weekday trip where I wanted to cross the Ardennes which turned out to be pretty much impossible due to military activity. I ended up calling the commander of the Belgian Air Force on the telephone to ask for permission. He was very friendly, noted down my registration, time and itinerary and then concluded with "The Belgian Air Force will be waiting for your German plane to enter our airspace!" The Belgians have a lot of money for flying their jets. Our Air Force focuses on cleaning its jets and the rest is done in MS Flight Simulator...
OK, I'm back from my three and a half-day flight through Belgium (as well as northern France and southeast England).
What a fantastic small trip it was. Windy, but very sunny, cold-frontal type weather with unlimited visibilities. Just what flying in May makes so special. Maybe I'll write a trip report.
Flying VFR in Beglium turned out to be quite enjoyable. Many thanks go to the AFIS operators of St. Hubert airfield, who went out of their way to give me all conceivable tipps and support re "flying in Belgium".
Some notes concerning Belgium:
-Brussels Information is of very little use; not much more than a "basic service". During the week (when many military areas are active) it is much better to call Belga Radar, which are accomodating to civil GA aircraft as well. They have more resources than Brussels Information and give you a sort of traffic service. Most importantly, they tell you where you can and where you cannot go in case of military activity.
-Cerfontaine airfield is a little gem. Very beautiful surroundings and a good grass runway.
-Froidchapelle airfield is definitely history.
-The infamous Chaleroi GA ban NOTAMs are no more! Apparanently, the NOTAMs were indeed the result of Ryanair putting pressure on the airfield operator to do away with the nasty GA. However, after the NOTAM had been out for a couple of times, the Beglian CAA intervened and informed the airport that such a restriction was illegal for a public use airport. Hats off! Proves that, very often, in the end, the cooler heads prevail. (Problem is...if Charleroi airport wants to get rid of GA, they will do it, either by means of handling fees or other "regulations"...).
-Most small airfields in Belgium are PPR, but - much like in the UK - it really is just an unnecessary administrative formality. PPR calls are mostly like "hi there, can I come and land at your airfield? - Yes, sure, no problem! - Thanks, see ya'."
-However, many small airfields in southern Beglium do require french over the radio (exceptions are St. Ghislain and St. Hubert).
-The southwest of Belgium is quite beautiful from the air.
Thumbs up!
